Monday, June 20, 2016

The Story Behind FLIES - My "Lost" FLY Sequel

Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum in THE FLY (1986).

In response to this article on Geoff Todd's One Perfect Shot blog, I wrote the following reminiscence for my Facebook page, where it attracted some interest. The article ponders a once-announced, no-show sequel to David Cronenberg's THE FLY, entitled FLIES, that Geena Davis was said to be producing at some point in the 1990s - and what I wrote relates to my own involvement with a proposed sequel that I originated, in late 1986, which was also called FLIES. Knowing that my reminiscence would only scroll away quickly on FB, I thought I should post it here, on the record. Not that it scores me
any points in particular, but it does render more accurate a certain
chain of events, if anyone cares.

When THE FLY came out to great
success in 1986, I approached David Cronenberg to ask if I might submit a
storyline for a possible sequel. (I had been writing on-set reports
about the making of his films since 1981 and had just spent two weeks on
the set of THE FLY for CINEFEX and AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, so I
figured I knew the characters as well as anybody.) David said sure, but
that to bear in mind that the inside word was that the studio was
looking for a vehicle for Geena Davis - for Jeff Goldblum not so much,
though he might consent to a guest appearance to help Geena's career.

I wrote a storyline in which (I'm working from a distant memory here)
Geena's character Veronica Quaife, while recovering from the traumatic
loss of her lover Seth Brundle, resumed her journalism career and began
researching for Stathis Borans a profile of the Bartok Company, who had
acquired Brundle's orphaned research and equipment in the wake of his
death. She meets with Anton Brink, the head of Bartok (a kind of
proto-Apple) and he presents her with items from the company's "new
spring line" (VIDEODROME reference) to test drive, including a fancy new
computer. Her research continues and, one night, as she hits a wall,
lacking certain information, she stares in amazement as the Bartok
computer automatically fills in the information she doesn't know. Long
story short, the ghost in her machine opens a real-time, intimate
dialogue with her and turns out to be Brundle - his "ghost in the
machine," as it were. He explains that, when he teleported himself, the
telepod received an analog, not his original self, which was destroyed
in the first telepod and translated into information stored within the
computer - which is what is communicating with her now. Veronica
realizes that the system, then, is not just a teleportation unit but a
true, instantaneous cloning device and that her beloved COULD live
again. Brundle explains that this is true; however, the Bartok Company
is holding him hostage in the machine, using his intelligence to direct
their future product developments. "Help me, Ronnie..."

That is
basically the pitch I made to producer Stuart Cornfeld on a trip to LA. I
went in without representation, feeling myself to be among friends. In all fairness, he DID caution me about this - but I didn't know
anything about finding an agent. Stuart told me to write up a treatment
with my idea and to get it to him ASAP, which I did. The title I gave to
my treatment was FLIES, playing off the cloning angle, but also the
recent Fox success of ALIENS. I also sent a copy to David, who made me
very happy when he told me that he liked my idea better than other
proposals run past him, and that he was submitting it, with his personal
recommendation, to Fox.

The next thing I heard, from David, was
that Stuart didn't consider my treatment "cinematic," but David had
argued the point, reminding him that such things were ultimately decided
in the filming and editing anyway. He thought I had written the basis
of a really SMART movie. (Maybe THAT'S what killed it.) Anyway, the next
thing I heard, or read, was that Mick Garris, who had been doing a lot
of work with Spielberg, was writing it - and that HIS script had David's
approval. Well, that's that, I figured.

I've managed to avoid
seeing THE FLY II all these years, but I am aware that the Bartok
Company setting and a form of my name for said company's director, Anton
Brink (conflating Anton Leader, the director of CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED,
with Joseph Losey's original title for THESE ARE THE DAMNED, "The
Brink"), somehow ended up in the picture's plasma pool - Anton Brink
becoming Anton Bartok - and I am OK with that. Those were just ideas;
nobody nicked my story - which I imagine Geena Davis might also have liked. It would have given her a real dramatic performance vehicle, much like the one Jeff Goldblum had, and actresses are always saying that they aren't offered enough of those.

I don't know anyone who was involved in the "gorefest" they made who looks back on it with pleasure. My proposed third act would have also made some commercial concessions to gore. It would have found Brundle infiltrating Bartok's security system to
allow Ronnie to get inside the facility to follow his directions and reintegrate
him. As she tried to reach the well-protected core of the facility, Brundle literally turned the building's security resources against Bartok's security goons.

Some years later, I read
in FANGORIA that Fox (who also produced a movie during this period
called GHOST IN THE MACHINE - maybe it was just something in the ether
back then) had announced a possible third FLY film, a vehicle just for
Geena called FLIES... but since my name has never been mentioned in
relation to it, it must have nothing to do with me.

But the above will tell you a bit more about another FLIES that might have been.

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